It's not too often that we see 23 year old goalies in the NHL. It happens more often now than in the past, but letting them develop in the minors after junior hockey is a must. Jesper Wallstedt just turned 23 on Friday so he's been in while he was even younger, but this season he has cemented himself as an NHL'er. He is an elite prospect, and the time might already be now. Wallstedt had his second consecutive shutout on Saturday, stopping all 28 shots from the high powered Ducks. Wallstedt has started six games and is 4-0-2 with a 2.10/.924. There are a couple major things working in Wallstedt's favor. One, the Wild are playing much better hockey as they get healthier. Two, despite a win on Sunday, Gustavsson has really struggled. It's far from a guarantee that Wallstedt turns into something this season, but if you're hurting in goaltending like a lot of people are, a speculation add of Wallstedt could pay dividends.
Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
With today’s post, we’ve officially come to the end of our Divisional Previews for the 2025-2026 season!
If you’re looking for the other Divisions, you can click here to check them out.
I'm slightly pivoting from my original plan to keep things moving. Today, I'm going to go through the forwards ranked 42-60 in full detail like I have with the first 41 forwards. Then, I'm going to have a post ranking 61-100 where I will still right more than it simply be a list, but I'm going to highlight players that I like or dislike compared to consensus, and limit what I write about players who we know who they are at this point e.g. Kopitar in his last season. If you missed the Top 40 post, you can check that out here. Let's get to it!
Things are shaking out differently than I expected in Detroit. I thought Petr Mrazek was brought in to be the backup to Talbot, but he’s started three consecutive games. After losing to his former team, the Hurricanes, on Friday 4-2 (saved 28/31 shots), he came back with an 18 save shutout victory in the 3-0 win over the Golden Knights. Please, blog, may I have some more?
If the early returns are any indication, the Flyers hit a massive home run picking 7th last year. Matvei Michkov dished two assists with three shots on Tuesday, giving him a five game point streak in which he has ten points. That brings him up to a point per game on the season as a 20 year old rookie (he turned 20 two days ago). We're starting to see the shot rate tick up a bit, and if you're in a league without hits but have PIM, Michkov is a top 20 forward on the season. Now imagine when the minutes increase, the team improves around him, and he grows into a better player. I don't think there's ten players in the league with more offensive talent than Michkov, and if the shot rate continues to grow, we're looking at a fantasy superstar for years to come. Let's take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
It has to be a good feeling to kick your rival while they're down. This is the worst stretch that the Rangers have had in years, and the Devils caused them to have a big postgame discussion amongst the players and coaches. The Devils won 5-1 on Monday, with their best players leading the charge. Jesper Bratt had a goal and three assists, Jack Hughes had two goals and an assist with eight shots, while Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. The most encouraging from a fantasy perspective was Jacob Markstrom, who saved 38 of 39 shots. He hasn't been a world beater, but Markstrom is up to the 6th goalie overall because of the elite wins and volume. The GAA is solid as well, and there's room to grow with the save percentage. I'm bullish on both goalies going forward, but Markstrom should keep getting 2/3rds of the starts with Allen getting the leftovers. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
If you want proof that no NHL coach has job security, look at what's happened over the last week. Boston is off to a slow start but after setting records two seasons ago and winning a playoff series six months ago, nobody saw him getting fired before American Thanksgiving. However, the news broke early on Tuesday that Boston was moving on with Joe Sacco as the interim coach. Then, on Sunday, St. Louis made a quick move to hire Montgomery. You have to feel bad for Drew Bannister, who only coached 76 games with the Blues and was a shocking 39-31-6 despite a weak roster, even though he was only 9-12-1 this season.
Dallas was in a mini slump having lost three of their last four games going into Monday night. Safe to say that they took their anger out on the Penguins. Dallas scored six goals in the first period, eventually winning the game 7-1. Mason Marchment led the charge, tying the franchise record for points in a period with four, before tallying a fifth in the third. Marchment's goal and four assists brought him up to a point per game on the season. The minutes lead Marchment to being quite streaky, which is a reason why I see him more as an elite streamer than hold. That said, you can make the case for holding Marchment on the bottom of your roster. The PIM are excellent, the hits are also very good, and his play at even strength leads to a top plus-minus. If you can stomach low shots and streaks, you can use Marchment for other team needs. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
We wrap things up in these parts with my forward rankings. If you're looking solely for a draft board, then you can use my Top 200 here. If you want to know why guys are ranked where, and whether I like them or not based on where they get drafted, then this is the post for you. Let's get right to it!
We're very close to the All-Star break with most teams starting their extended break on Sunday. If you look at defensemen production, specifically in goals, you see notable names at the top. Dahlin leads defensemen in goals, and then there's a four way tie behind him with notables like Makar and Hughes. None of that is a surprise. Weegar is one of those tied with Makar and Hughes, which is very surprising, but he went into the season locked into a big role, so let's assume he had some good fortune. But Thomas Harley? He's a player I really liked in dynasties, but to be one goal off the league lead for defensemen? Not even close to my radar. Harley scored two goals on Saturday, including the overtime winner for a second straight game, in the 5-4 win over the Capitals. That gives Harley a whopping 12 goals in 46 games. "Even with Heiskanen back, Harley was a factor. I’m still holding Harley even though I wasn’t expecting to when Heiskanen came back. He’s been that good for the Stars." And that's me quoting me from three days ago copying what Grey does! Somehow, Harley is still available in almost two-thirds of fantasy leagues. With the pool of defensemen dropping off hard at the bottom, Harley should be owned in all formats. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
When the Flames acquired Yegor Sharangovich and a third round pick for Toffoli, the consensus was the Flames didn't get nearly enough for Toffoli off a 34 goal season. Well, here we are at the midway point of the season, and Sharangovich has more goals than Toffoli. Sharagovich had a hat trick on six shots on Thursday in the 6-2 victory over the Coyotes. That gives him 17+30 in 42 games. The minutes have been through the roof lately, and Sharangovich has rewarded Huska with 6+5 and over three shots per game in his last ten appearances. His speed is an absolute weapon and he's starting to be a focal point on the power play. At the end of the day, Sharangovich is probably somebody who is on the fringe, but for now, he's a definite hold. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
For most of last season, Zach Hyman led the league in expected goals. By the end of the season, he had a career high with 36 goals, but didn't even sniff the league lead. This season, he's starting to finish at an elite level, resulting in him pushing towards the league lead in goals. Hyman had a hat trick on eight shots on Saturday, carrying the Oilers to a 3-1 win over the Senators. That gives Hyman 25 goals on the season to go along with 15 assists, a +13 rating, 32 PIM, and almost four shots on goal per game. He's been a top ten forward so far, and while I expect a bit of a drop off in the second half, I don't see much of one coming. That's how good Hyman has been. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
